jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Three weeks ago, I drove my son to get his first Covid shot. A 2 1/2 hour trip turned into 3 1/2 hours for some reason, thanks to Mapquest and GPS. For yesterday's trip, I decided to take the Interstate - longer, but less chance of getting lost. Great trip.

My son was back in the car at 1:00 PM. I pushed the starter button - nothing. Totally dead. I had left the headlights on. Heavy rain on the way there. Since I hadn't opened the car door, it didn't alert me to that situation. I waited a while for the battery to recover, but it didn't recover enough. I have road service with Good Sam - popular with RV owners. I called them, and they said it would be 60 - 70 minutes. Long story short, they mistakenly canceled the order, and no one arrived till 5:00 PM. It took less than a minute to get the car running.

As soon as I got home, I went to YouTube and looked up reviews of battery jumpers. Project Farm did two good reviews, and other reviewed some, as well. I'm torn between the Tacklife ($90) and Autowiz ($130). The Autowiz is not a battery. It's a capacitor. Even if the car battery is down to 5V, it will charge the capacitor in 3 - 10 minutes and start the car. The Tacklife would have to be charged at regular intervals to keep the battery alive.

https://smile.amazon.com/TACKLIFE-18000mAh-Water-Resistant-Starter-Portable/dp/B08BJMSSSX/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=tacklife+battery+jumper&qid=1617017136&sr=8-3

starlifter Loc: Towson, MD

Funny story. I took my wife to get her 1st shot (only 25min drive) turned the key and nothing, just dash lights. Nothing on just the batteries time. Son in law got us going. Got a new bat the next day but can imagine the trepidation the next time I took her.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Lucky! We were too far from everything to walk, and it was raining, so I couldn't buy anything to get us going. Anyone I could call for help lived almost three hours away, so that option was out. I've always carried a box with a tire repair kit, tire inflator, and first aid kit. Now I'll be carrying a jump starter, too.

bobmcculloch Loc: NYC, NY

A while back I picked up a jump start from WallyWorld, reasonable priced, only have had to use it once, holds it's charge well, some other bells and whistles on it. Good point it is small, had others in the past that contained lead acid batteries, never worked as well as this little one, if you need the brand I'll look for you, Bob.

nicksr1125 Loc: Mesa, AZ

Also check out the NOCO line of Genius jump packs. We sell them at Batteries Plus. Amazon also carries them.

ELNikkor

Better to be safe than sorry, but, after an experience like that, you'll be obsessed with checking to be sure your headlights are off if you ever are waiting in the car with the engine off again, even if they weren't on in the first place...

Country Boy Loc: Beckley, WV

Jerry, My first thought is you should carry a set of jumper cables in the car. Many will give you a jump if you have the cables. I had an electric jump device that had to be charged ever month or so and hated it. Forget to charge it and it is useless. I now have one that you keep plugged in and it has a light to show that it is fully charged. These devices are only good if you take them with you and you did not know you would leave the lights on so having it at home would be of no good. Get the jumper cables first then look for the jump start device.

Busbum Loc: 85367

Jerry,
Here is what I use, for both my vehicles; https://www.harborfreight.com/3-in-1-portable-power-pack-with-jump-starter-64083.html

HTH

flip1948 Loc: Hamden, CT

I used to work for an 80 year old Civil Engineer and Land Surveyor in a small town about 45 minutes away. He had a home office and I did all of his CAD work.

One day as I went to leave my car wouldn't start...no juice. He said "don't worry, I have jumper cables in my truck."

I watched as he hooked his cables up to both battery terminals and told him it was recommended that the ground be hooked up to the engine block or something else away from the battery to avoid arcing and the possibility of the battery exploding. He explained that he had done this many times and never had a problem (famous last words).

He told me to turn the key and when I did the engine turned followed by a loud BANG!!!

He had to drive me to Sears in town and luckily I had enough cash with me for a new battery. I didn't get home until 10 PM that night. Lesson learned...never listen to an 80 year old when you know he's wrong.

Canonuser Loc: UK and South Africa

I always carry a pair of jump leads for this very situation. I’m sure it’s always going to be easy to get power from other helpful motorist.
Strangely in all the time I’ve carried them I’ve never needed assistance, but have used them on three occasions to help other drivers with flat batteries with power from mine.
They take up little storage space and don’t need any maintenance.

DAN Phillips Loc: Graysville, GA

I made it a habit a long time ago, always buy Delco batteries. They are the most reliable, period.

Canonuser Loc: UK and South Africa

Not when you forget to switch your headlights off they’re not.

kerry12 Loc: Harrisburg, Pa.

I bought 2 Tacklifes. 1 for each vehicle. Borrowed my neighbors several months ago and it worked great. My wife's battery died and the way I had the vehicles parked, I couldn't use my jumper cables. Great idea, especially for the wife or daughter and when they are out somewhere. They won't have to rely on strangers.

LoisCroft Loc: Jonesborough, Tennessee

My daughter got me an emergency auto backpack for Christmas. I has most everything you would need in an emergency; flares, jumper cables, a canister to fix flats, shovel etc. I would highly recommend it. I never needed this stuff until the day after she gave it to me. It even has drinking water and first aid things. All in a compact backpack.

nimbushopper Loc: Tampa, FL

Costco and Sam's club carry similar products(lithium battery pack) and I've kept one in my car for years now after having a similar experience as you did. These modern cars depend so much on battery power and don't give any indication of a failure about to occur. Older cars used to crank slower as the battery got old, letting you know it's time to replace it.